WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) -As Shelley Lancaster takes her dog Maddy for a walk, it’s hard to believe that on the very same road her life changed in an instant.
“It was just a really quick walk. We were almost home. We were 450 feet from where we are right now,” Lancaster recounted.
Little did she know, Lancaster would become a part of William Gilmore’s cross-county spree that ended on August 18, 2023 when he was shot by police on Market St. in Wilmington.
On August 17, 2023, Lancaster noticed a man slow down in a car right beside her. That man was Gilmore.
“It felt like evil. Like I was looking in the eyes of evil,” she said.
He took out his gun and started firing at her.
“I turned to look and when I did I was looking down the barrel of the gun and he just started shooting at me. It was so surreal. Time stopped. I was just eye to eye with him,” she said.
A total of six bullets shattered her elbow, hit her legs and flew into her back.
Thinking she was going to die, she quickly texted her neighbors and called her mom and dad, saying she was shot and she loved them.
But, what surprised her most as she was bleeding out was a feeling of peace.
“I just had a peace come over me at that moment. I surrendered,” she said.
As she was riding to the hospital, reality set in.
“If I live am I going to wish I had died? I had a tremendous fear that I would not be able to return to my normal life,” she said.
It was the beginning to her road to recovery.
As she relearned to walk in the hospital and her wounds turned into scars, Lancaster credits her family, friends, and her community that got her where she is today.
“I can’t even express the gratitude that I have. It started immediately when I was on the ground. It took this dark thing, a thing that was so horrible, and turned it into a beautiful experience. I wouldn’t choose to go through it again. I wouldn’t choose to be shot like that again or attacked, but I can say I’m grateful for the experience and what I’ve learned and the love that I’ve felt and the goodness that I’ve seen in people,” Lancaster emotionally said.
After beating the odds and recovering quicker than anyone ever expected, one year later, she’s walking through life with a deeper appreciation with her dog, Maddy, still by her side.
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